quasi Sacerdos vt peccata nostra dimittat hic in imagine ibi in veritate vbi apud patrem pro nobis quasi aduocatus interuenit Here in this worlde there is a shadowe here there is an ymage there in heauen is truth the shadowe in the law the ymage in the Gospell the truth in heauen Before a Lambe and Calfe were offered now Christ is offered but he is offered as man and receauing passion and he offereth himselfe as being a priest to take our sinnes awaye here in ymage there in truth where with the father as an aduocate he maketh intercession for vs. The same thing he wryteth also vpon the .38 Psalme So that it is very plaine without al controuersie that Christ doth offer himselfe now most perfitely in heauen for vs being our aduocate to the father face to face as saint Iohn sayth 1. Iohn 2. Ipse est propitiatio pro peccatis nostris he is a sacrifice propitiatorie for our sinnes he sayth not he was but is and after the most perfitest maner that can be in respect whereof the very true and reall oblation for our redemption vpon the crosse is an ymage So that by this we see by the plaine scripture that Christ offered himselfe three wayes besides the oblation of himself in his supper which is the point we he about to declare And euen so is he offered of man three wayes likewise First figuratiuely in the oblation of the olde testament When Abraham being about to offer his owne deare sonne and by Gods prouision offred in his stede a Ramme and when Melchisedech offered bread and wine and the Iewes the pascall lambe and their burnt offerings what did they offer but Christ in figure whose passion those offerings did signifie Which offerings did of themselfe worke nothing inwardly and therefore were called Iustitia carnis the righteousnesse of the fleshe but by them they did protest their sinne and declared their fayth of whome they looked to haue remission Secondly we offer Christ mistically in our daylie sacrifice of the Masse where Christ is by his omnipotent power presented to vs in the sacrament and of vs againe represented to his and our father and his passion renewed not by suffering of death againe but after an vnbloudy maner not for this ende that we should therby deserue remission of our sinnes but that by our fayth deuotion and this representation of his passion we most humbly pray almightie God to applie vnto vs by Christ that remission which was purchased and deserued by his passion before The hoste of these two sacrifices vpon the crosse and vpon the aultar is all one in substaunce but the maner is dyuers and the ende is dyuers that by this meanes as Christ himselfe hath instituted we might celebrate make commemoration of his passion This is onely the sacrifice of the priest by publicke ministration but verily and in affection it is the sacrifice of the whole Church which euerye member of the Church doth vse and frequent no man doth impugne it but he that professeth open warre against the Church Thirdly Christ is offered by man spiritually onely by the meditation of our minde when we thinke and remember his passion and in our deuout prayer beseech God to showe vs mercy for it Thus euery christen man and woman in all places and times vppon the aultar his owne heart ought to offer Christ to the father after which sort of spirituall oblation we be all both men and women priestes and kings being as saint Peter sayth Sacerdotium sanctum 1. Peter 2. offerentes spirituales hostias acceptabiles Deo per Iesum Christum An holy priesthood offering spirituall sacrifices acceptable to God by Iesus Christ Now considering these three wayes shall it be a good argument to inculcate one way and to reiect the rest To alledge one member of a deuision to the reiection of the other This is the peculiar maner of the heretikes the enimies of Christ as they did in the matter of the sacrament by the spirituall eating of Christ to confute and reiect the reall and corporall eating of Christs body in the sacrament Such shiftes and fonde arguments they haue to seduce the vnlearned withall which when they bee espyed and detected they appeare as they be Deuillishe and pernycious Sophistrie CROWLEY Whereas you go about to perswade your hearers that we abuse the wordes of saint Paule to the Hebrues your answere that you make to our obiection doth affirme that we do vse those scriptures aright Hebrues .9 Watson confirmeth our allegation of the scriptures For to what ende hath any of vs alleged them other then to proue that Christ was but once offered for the redemption of mans sinnes and that therfore he is not offered for sinnes in your popishe Masse These be the scriptures say you that they alledge agaynst the Masse as though those scriptures were of no weight in comparison of those that you haue to alledge for the Masse Or else that they were wrested so farre out of square that all the world might sée that they make nothing for the purpose But that the reader may sée that these scriptures so alledged as they be by vs against the Masse be of some force to proue that which we would proue by them I will vpon these scriptures and your answere forme this reason or argument An argumēt for watson to aunswere Whatsoeuer action is but once done is not done often or euery day But Christ is but once offered for sinne Ergo he is not offered often or euerye day for sinne Disproue this argument if you can You would make your hearers beleue that we go about to confute one truth by another But I trust to cause the reader to sée that you confirme one lye by another We graunt that it is true that Christ was offered but once for sinne and that that once must néedes be by shedding of his bloud Rom. 6. Hebr. 9. For as saint Paule fayth Stipendium peccati mors The rewarde of sinne is death He therefore that should take away sinne must die And without the effusion of bloud there is no forgiuenesse of sinnes Therefore Christ that should purchase forgiuenesse of sinnes must néedes haue his bloud shed according to the figures of the olde lawe which did all preach the shedding of the bloud of him that should purge vs and make vs cleane from sinne We do not by the affirming of this truth denie any other truth But if there be any that will say that Christ is offered for sinne any oftner then once or any otherwyse then by death and the shedding of his bloud then doe we alledge this truth grounded vpon the scriptures and confessed by you agaynst that falsehoode affirmed by such as say that Christ is offered for sinne oftner then once or any otherwise then by death and the shedding of his bloud If you can finde any imperfection in Christes one oblation once offered
Epist 3. Saint Ciprian sayth Qui magis Sacerdos Dei summi quam dominus noster Iesus Christus qui sacrificium deo patri obtulit obtulit hoc idem quod Melchisedech id est panem vinum suum scilicii corpus sanguinem Who is more the Priest of the highest GOD then our Lord Iesus Christ who offered a sacrifice to God the father and offered the same that Melchisedech did that is to say bread and wine that is to say his body and bloud And a little after he sayth Qui est plenitudo veritatem praefiguratae imaginis adimpleuit Christ which is the fulnesse fulfilled the truth of this image that was figurate before By these places of Ciprian we learne that Melchisedech and his offering were figures of Christ and his offering in his supper and like as Melchisedech offered breade and wine so Christ being the truth offered his bodie and bloud vnder the formes of bread and wine And least anye man should be offended with that Cyprian sayth hoc idem quod Melchisedech the same that Melchisedech Heare what saint Hierom sayth more plainely Quomodo Melchisedech obtulit panem vinum sic tu offeres corpus tuum sanguinem verum panem verū vinum Hiero. in Psal 109. Like as Melchisedech offered bread and wine so thou shalt offer thy body and bloud the true bread and the true wine The other was the figuratiue breade and wine this is the true breade and wine the truth of that figure not the same in substance but the same in mysterie Paula Epist ad Marcellā The same saint Hierome among his Epistles hath an Epistle of the godly matrone Paula ad Marcellam wherein be these wordes Recurre ad Genesim Melchisedech Regem Salem Huius principem inuenies ciuitatis qui iam tunc in tipo Christi panem vinum obtulit misterium Christianum in saluatoris sanguine corpore dedicauit Returne sayth Paula to the booke of Genesis and to Melchisedech the king of Salem and thou shalt find the prince of that Citie which euen then in the figure of Christ offered bread and wine and did dedicate the mistery or sacrament of the Christians in the bloud and bodye of our sauiour Marke in this most manifest place the oblation of the figure which is breade and wine and the oblation of the truth which is the misterie of vs Christen men the bodie and bloud of our sauiour Christ And it is to be noted what is ment by this word order which saint Hierome expoundeth thus Hiero. questio in Genesim Mysterium nostrum in verbo ordinis significauit nequaquam per Aaron irrationabilibus victimis immolandis sed oblato pane vino .i. corpore sanguine domini Iesu By this worde order he did signifie and expresse our misterie not by offering of vnreasonable and brute beastes as Aaron did but by the oblation of bread and wine that is to say the bodie and bloud of our Lord Iesus After this fathers minde order is taken for the maner of offering not by shedding of bloud but vnbloudily as we offer Christes bodie and bloud in our mistery For Christes offering concerning the substaunce of it was but one but concerning the order and maner it was diuerse vppon the crosse after the order of Aaron in the supper after the order of Melchisedech For so saint Augustine sayth August in Psalm 33. Coram regno patris sui id est Iudaeorum mutauit vultum suum quia erat ibi sacrificium secundum ordinem Aaron postea ipse de corpore sanguine suo instituit sacrificium secundū ordinem Melchisedech Before the kingdome of his Father that is to say the Iewes hee chaunged his countenance for there he was a sacrifice after the order of Aaron afterward he did institute the sacrifice of his bodie and bloud after the order of Melchisedech Marke the diuersitie and distinction of these two offerings of Christ not in substaunce but in order that is to say the maner and that Christ did institute the sacrifice of his bodie and bloud to bee offered of vs after the order of Melchisedech which thing he expresseth more plainely in an other booke expounding a place of Ecclesiastes Non est bonum homini nisi quod manducabit bibet August De Ciuitate Dei li. 17. Cap. 20. saying thus Quid credibilius dicere intelligitur quam quod ad participiationem mensae huius pertinet quam sacerdos ipse mediator noui Testamenti exlabit secundum ordinem Melchisedech de corpore sanguine suo Id enim sacrificium successit omnibus illis sacrificijs veteris testamenti quae immolabantur in vmbra futuri What is more credible we should thinke he ment by those wordes then that pertayneth to the participation of this table which Christ himselfe a priest and mediatour of the newe Testament doth exhibet after the order of Melchisedech of his bodie and bloud For that sacrifice did succede all the other sacrifices of the olde Testament which were offered in the shadowe of this to come What can be playner then this to shewe the figure of our mystery to be abrogated and the truth which is our sacrifice in the bodie and bloud of Christ in fourme of bread and wine to succeede Oecumenius in Epist ad Hebreos But to ende this matter heare one place playnest of all which Oecumenius hath vpon this place of Saint Paule Tu es sacerdos in aeternum c. in these wordes Significat sermo quod non solum Christus obtulit incruentam hostiam si quidem suū ipsius corpus obtulit verum etiam qui ab ipso fungentur sacerdotio quorum Deus pontifex esse dignatus est sine sanguinis effusione offerent Nam hoc significat in aeternum Neque enim de ea quae semel à deo facta est oblà tio hostia dixissit inaeternum sed respiciens ad presentes sacrificos per quos medios Christus sacrificat sacrificatur qui etiam in mystica coena modum illis tradidit huiusmodi sacrificij The worde meaneth that not onely Christ offered an vnbloudy sacrifice for he offered his owne bodie but also that they which vnder hym vse the function of a priest whose Bishop he doth vouchsafe to be shall offer without shedding of bloud For that signifieth the worde euermore For concerning that oblation and sacrifice which was once made of God he would neuer say euermore But hauing an eye to those priestes that be now by whose mediation Christ doth sacrifice and is sacrificed who also in his mysticall supper did by tradition teach them the maner of such a sacrifice This authoritie if it were any thing doubtfull I would stand in it to open such poyntes as were conteyned therin but being so manifest as it is it nedeth no more but to desire the hearer or reader to wey it and he shall see this
in veteri populo sicut nostis occisione Agni cum Azymis vbi occisio ouis Christum significat Azyma autem nouam vitam Hoc est sine vetustate fermenti The Pasouer was in the olde people celebrated as you know in the killing of a Lambe with vnleauened breade where the killing of the shéepe doth signifie Christ and the vnleauened bread a newe lyfe that is without the oldnesse of leauen And a little after he saith Venit verum Pascha immolatur Christus transitum facit à morte ad vitam TraÌ„situs enim interpretatur hebraice Pascha The true Passouer is come Christ is offered vp he passeth from death to life For Paschal in the Hebrue is interpreted passing by or passing ouer Here is no worde of the offering of Christ figuratiuely in the olde Paschall but when Christ passed from death to life then he was offered sayth saint Austen Wherfore I conclude That Christ did not offer himselfe figuratiuely in the olde Paschall neyther did the fathers of the olde lawe offer him in their sacrifices But as all the faythfull fathers that beléeued the promise did offer passouer and other sacrifices thereby to shewe their due obedience to the lawe of God Why Christ would eate Passouer by which those things were commaunded to be done trusting that when the time should be fulfilled God would performe his promise so did Christ obserue al the points of the law absolutely that being frée from the cursse of the lawe he might delyuer from that cursse those that were vnder it Thirdly Christ offereth himselfe in heauen really and so continually as the same Chapiter that we bring against the Masse doth testifie say you Non in manufacta c. Iesus entred not into a temple made with handes c. It séemeth that you haue learned some painters diuinitie Painters diuinitie where you haue séene Christ representing his woundes to God his father to mooue him to haue compassion vpoÌ„ vs for whose cause he hath suffred those wounds That which you gather of this place of saint Paule doth shewe you to be very nigh a daungerous errour if you be not already fallen into it That is the errour of the Anthropomorphits which supposed God to be as a man Watson vâ— nigh a daâ—gerous eâ— not onely in bodily shape but also in humane affections As though a thing once done coulde not be present with him both before and after it is done for euer but must be stil presented before him to mooue his affections by the sight therof which otherwise would forget it as a man doth How you can auoid this I can not sée affirming as you do that Christ is entered into heauen to offer himselfe for vs. c. We haue learned both by the scriptures and also by the auncient wryters that there is with God neyther time to come nor time past but all present The woundes of Christ were present in his sight before Adam was made and so are they nowe and shall be for euer Christ néedeth not therefore perpetually to stande representing hys woundes Ephesi 1. that we might be reconciled by him for as many as shal be reconciled to God by Christ were before the foundations of the worlde were layd reconciled to him in Christ and doe and shall remaine reconciled for euer God had appointed a time wherein Christ should worke the worke of our reconciliation which time is now past with vs but still present with him and he hath also appointed a time wherein we that be by him reconcyled shall enioy the fruit of that reconciliation that is euerlasting glorie in his kingdome which with vs is yet to come but with him it is already present In the meane season Hebr. 10. Christ hauing offered one oblation for sinne as Saint Paule sayth doth for euer sit at the right hande of God from thenceforth tarying tyll his enimies be made his footestoole For by one oblation he hath made persite for euer those that be sanctified That is those which be made holy by the spirit of adoption Rom. 8. whereby they cry vnto God Abba father But you haue founde saint Ambrose Ambro. li. 1. Officio Ca. 48 in Psal 38. in two places of hys workes to be of your minde and to accompt the sacrifice that Christ made vpon the crosse to be but an ymage of a sacrifice in comparison of that which he maketh perpetually in heauen If Ambrose were nowe lyuing and did knowe of your doing he could not thinke well of you that would make him a maintayner of your fond opinion of Christes perpetuall offering of himselfe drawing his wordes so farre from his meaning By occasion of the wordes of the Prophet Dauid where he sayth Psalm 38. Notum fac mihi Domine c. Lorde let me know mine ende and what the number of my dayes is that I may know what it is that I lack saint Ambrose doth note that the ende which the Prophet doth desire to know is that day wherein euery one shall rise out of the earth in his order wherein our perfection doth begin Here therefore sayth Ambrose that is in this mortall state there is a let or impediment there is infirmitie euen in such as be perfite but there that is in the lyfe to come there is full perfection Therefore he desireth to knowe what dayes of eternall lyfe are yet remayning not what dayes be past That he may know what he himselfe lacketh what the lande of promise is which bringeth forth contynuall fruites what maner dwellings the first second and thirde dwelling are wyth the father wherein euery man doth rest according to his worthynesse We therefore sayth he must desire those things wherein perfection is wherein the truth is Hic vmbra hic Imago illic veritas c. Here is the shadow here is the ymage there is the truth And so forth as you haue cyted But to the ende of those wordes that you rehearse Ambrose openeth his owne meaning he addeth a sentence that doth make his meaning more playne Hic ergo in imagine ambulamus in imagine videmus illic facie ad faciem vbi plena perfectio quia perfectio omnis in veritate Here therefore sayth Ambrose we walke in an ymage we sée in an Image then we shall sée face to face where there is full perfection bicause all perfection is in truth Who would thinke that any man of learning coulde be so blynded as to vnderstand these wordes of Ambrose as you doe His whole purpose is to declare that in this mortall state there can be no perfection in any thing But the most perfite things that be here are but as ymages are in comparison of those things whereof they be ymages Yea the mediation of Christ betwixt God and man was not without imperfection in the ymage and outwarde shewe thereof For he suffered sayth Ambrose as a man and as one worthyly condemned to die And he offered
himselfe as a priest doth offer sacrifice to release vs of our sinnes Here that is in the mortall state he walked in an ymage But there that is in the immortall state he walketh in the truth That is a verie Aduocate without any outward shew or ymage of one that should not be able to bring to passe that which he hath taken in hande that is the restoring of man to the fauour of God agayne According to this meaning doth Ambrose wryte vpon the Psalme that you name Ascende ergo in coelum Ambrose i◠Psalm 38. videbis illa quorum vmbra hic erat vel Imago c. Clime vp into heauen therefore O thou man and thou shalt sée those things the shadowe or ymage whereof was here Thou shalt sée not in part nor in a darke spéeche but in perfection Not vnder a couering but in the light Thou shalt sée that priest which is a priest in déede euerlasting and continuall whose ymages thou didst sée here Peter Paule Iohn Iames Mathew Thomas Thou shalt see him a perfite man now not in an ymage but in power And to put all men out of doubt that Ambrose meaneth not to maintaine your madde assertion of a perpetual oblation made by Christ in such sort as you imagine I will let the reader sée what he wryteth vpon the same place to the Hebrues that you do alledge Si semel oblatus non sufficeret c. Hebr. 9. If he had not bene able by being once offered to take away the sinnes of all that beléeue in him he must haue suffered oftentimes since the beginning of the worlde For the auoyding whereof he did once suffer in the ende of the worlde to consume vtterly the sinnes of many And why of many and not of all Because all doe not beléeue c. Here it is manifest that Ambrose supposed that the sinnes of all the faithfull were cleane consumed by that one oblation that Christ offered once for all So that it is playne without all controuersie that Ambrose minded not to teache that Christ doth continually offer himselfe a sacrifice to his father for vs but that the mortall state in thys worlde is in comparison of the immortall state in heauen but euen as an ymage is in comparison of the thing that it doth represent As for the place that you cite out of saint Iohns Epistle is aunswered by that which you your selfe haue sayde of the first way of Christs offering of himselfe For you say that that was done really and corporally and that our exclamations of once once haue very good place there I am sure you do not thinke that this most perfite maner of offring that you speak of here wherof you say the first was but an ymage should be other then real corporal And then how serueth our exclamatiō of once once in the first vnlesse it doe vtterly exclude this last that you doe so greatly extoll I know that saint Iohn hath sayde Aduocatum habemus apud Patrem Iesum Christum iustum ipse est propitiatio pro peccatis nostris We haue an Aduocate with the father which is Iesus Christ the righteous he is the propitiatorie sacrifice for our sinnes He sayth not he was say you but he is I thinke the Diuines of your owne sort was and shall haue no place in God doe lament to sée you take holde of so slender a stay as this to kéepe you from falling For what Diuine knoweth not that was and shall haue no place in Gods doings when men will speake properly of him and his doings God in himselfe is alwayes that which with vs and in our maner of spéeche he is sayde to haue bene or shall be It would haue done well if you could haue cyted but one wryter eyther auncient or newe that vnderstandeth this place as you doe But because there is none to be cyted you slip it ouer with so by this c. But that the reader may sée how worthy of credite you be I wil let him sée the iudgement of the auncient Grecians gathered by one that you haue in these Sermons cyted for your purpose more then once Oecumenius vpon this place sayth thus Aduocatmm verò dicit eum qui Patrem pro nobis precatur siue flectit Humano autem modo dispensatione quadam haec dicta sunt quemadmodum illud Filius nihil potest facere à se ipso Haec enim dicit ne Deo aduersari videatur Nam quod etiam filius haberet potestatem remittendi peccata ostenderat in Paralytico Sed discipulis dando vt peccata dimitterent Iohn 5. Math. 9. Iohn 20. ostendit quod sua potestate hoc tribueret Verum vt diximus aut dispensatoriè hoc dicit nunc Apostolus aut ostendens eandem filij cum patre naturam eandemque potentiam Et quòd quicquid faceret vna trium sanctarum personarum commune esset reliquis He calleth him an Aduocate which doth entreate the father for vs Christ called an Aduocate by dispensation or cause him to relent But these wordes are spoken after the maner of men and by a certaine dispensation euen as is this The sonne can doe nothing of himself These wordes he speaketh least he should séeme to be against God For he had already shewed in the man that was sick of a palsey that the sonne also had power to forgiue sinnes Also in gyuing hys Disciples power to forgiue sinnes he shewed that he did by his owne power graunt that But as I haue sayde the Apostle doth speake this nowe eyther by dispensation or else to shewe that the nature and power of the sonne is all one and the same with the father And that whatsoeuer thing one of the thrée holy persons should doe the same should be common to the rest By this we may see that you haue wrested the plaine scriptures to proue the thrée folde offering of Christ beside the oblation of himself in his supper which is the point that you go about to declare We deny not that Christ is our aduocate and sacrifice propitiatorie for our sinnes but we confesse that he is hath bene and shall be so for euer The act of mediation once done extending the vertue force of his death and bloudshedding to all the faythfull that eyther haue béene or shall be betwéene the first man and the last But the action of oblation is but one and once done vpon the crosse when he sayd Consummatum est It is finished As for the thrée wayes that you say Christ is offered by man are not worth the weighing Figuratiuely you saye Christ is offered in the oblation of the olde Testament Here was would haue serued better then is And yet he was not then offered as I haue shewed in that which I haue aunswered to the seconde way of Christes offering himselfe In your Masse you say you offer him mystically I might conclude that therefore you do
Priests onely Make thée no grauen Image sayth he yes say you we will haue our Churches full c. Wherefore if God haue disceyued you it is not bicause you haue beléeued his worde but bicause you haue loued lyes more then truth and therefore God hath iustly giuen you ouer In efficaciam erroris euen to the force and strength of error 2. Thess 2. as saint Paule wryteth And so is your error a iust punishment for the credite that you gaue vnto lyes And although God neyther doth nor can disceyue any man in such sort as you doe meane yet he sayth that in such meaning as I haue written Ezech. 14. he doth disceyue such as you are for the wickednesse of such people as you haue instructed Thus hauing spoken something of the scriptures WATSON Diuision 29 as this short time would permit there remayneth also the second thing which I sayde moued mee to continue in thys fayth which is the authorities of auncient fathers that haue flourished in the preaching of Gods truth in all ages with authorities I thinke verily in no age haue bene so curiously sought so diligent founde out and so substantially wayed as in this our time And all this is bicause the oppugnation of the truth in this matter hath extend it selfe not onely to the scriptures but also to the doctors to euery particle and title of the doctors whose wrytings haue bene so scanned tried that if any thing could haue bene gathered piked out of their books eyther by liberal writing before this mistery came in contention or by misconstruction of their words or by deprauatiō of their meaning that could seme to make against our fayth herein it was not omitted of some but stoutly alledged amplified inforced and set forth to the vttermost that their wittes coulde conceaue which if God hath not infatuat leauing them to speake so as neyther fayth nor reason could allow lyke as they haue with their vanities seduced a great sort the more pittie so they should haue vndermined and subuerted the fayth of a great many mo that were doubting and falling but not cleane ouerthrowne thankes be to almightie God Of these authorities although with a little studie and lesse labour I could at this time alledge a great number yet cōsidering the shortnesse of the time which is almost spent I shall be content to picke out a fewe which doe not onely declare the minde of the author but also conteyne an argument to proue and conuince the truth of our fayth and such an argument as neyther figuratiue speeche nor deprauation of the wordes or meaning can delude And first I shall begin with the weakest that is with the suspition of the Gentils Tertullian in his Apologie teacheth howe the Gentiles did accuse the Christen men for kylling of yong children ertul. apol Capit. 7. and eating of their fleshe he sayth thus Dicimur sceleratissimi de Sacramento infanticidij pabulo inde We are reported and accused as most mischeuous and wicked men for the sacrament of kylling of children and eating their fleshe and drincking their bloud Historia Ecclesiast lib. 5. Capit. 3. Eusebius also in this historie of the Church wryteth of one Attalus a martyr who being roasted in an yron Cradell with fyre put vnderneath when the sauour of his burnt fleshe came to the smelling of the people that looked on he cryed with a lowde voyce to the people Lo this is to eate men which you doe which fault ye make inquisition of as secretly done of vs which you commit openly in the mid daye By this accusation we may vnderstand that our sacramentes and misteries in the beginning of the Church were kept very secret both from the sight and knowledge of the Paganes that mocked and scorned them and also of those that were Catechumini learners of our fayth and not yet baptized for many great causes which I shall not neede to rehearse nowe And yet for all the secret keping of them being so many Christen men and women as there was they could not be kept so secret but that some ynkeling of them came to the eares of those that were Infidels and vnchristened insomuch that where as in deede and verie truth by the rules of our religion we did eate the fleshe of Iesus Christ our Lorde and drinke hys bloud ministred vnto vs in the sacrament the Gentiles as they were curious to know new things so they came to knowledge of the rumour of our doings eyther by the bewraying of some false brethrē or else by the simplicity of other that of zeale without knowledge would haue conuerted the vnfaythfull to our fayth heard secretly that wee christen men in our misteries did eate mans flesh and drinke mans bloud which they for lack of faith and further instruction began to compasse in their wittes how it was possible so to doe and therefore some of them blinded by their owne foolishe suspicion conceaued and published amongst other as it was most likely vnto them that we in our secret misterie did kill yong children eating their flesh and drinking their bloud and therevpon accused certayne before the Magistrates of thys heynous crime which they coulde neuer trie out to be true as they did accuse But for our purpose it appeareth plainly that we would neuer haue kept our misteries so secret if they had beene but ceremonies of eating of bread wine nor they would neuer haue accused vs of such beastly and vnnatural crimes being men of such reason learning and equity as they were if there had not bene some truth in their accusation which in deede was true for the substaunce of that they alledged but not for the maner of the thing for it was and is true that we in our misteries eate fleshe and drinke bloud but yet we doe not kill and murder yong children and eate their flesh and drinke their bloud And therfore I alledge the sayings of Tertullian and Eusebius the which is also in Origen the sixt booke contra Celsum to declare the accusation of the Gentils against vs concerning the eating of fleshe and drinking of bloud which could neuer haue commed into their heads so to haue done if there had not bene a truth in that matter which they by their reason could neuer see otherwise then they alleged which we by our faith do plainly see and know as it was ordeined by Christ our Lord. And for that cause Tertullian did cast in a vaine worde saying that we were accused of the sacrament of kylling of children which worde Sacrament standeth there for no purpose but to declare vnto vs that this their accusation did rise for lack of the true and precise knowledge of our Sacrament which is true concerning the eating of fleshe and drinking of bloud but not true concerning the kylling and murdering of children CROWLEY After you haue something spoken of the scriptures how much to the purpose let the readers
away Per ipsum igitur offerrimus sacrificium laudis semper Deo hoc est fructum labiorum confitentium nomen eius Through him therefore we doe alwayes offer vnto God a sacrifice of praise that is the fruit of those lips that doe confesse his name This sacrifice hath Antichrist of Rome taken away from the vniuersall Church of Christ in taking vpon himselfe the title of vniuersall head of the same Church which tytle is due to Christ onely and in taking vpon him the authoritie and power to remitte and pardon sinnes which power belongeth to God onely The fruite of those lips that confesse his name is taken away when none may without perill of death confesse that Christ onely is the vniuersall head of his Church and that God onely in his sonne Christ and for his sake doth fréely forgiue and pardon sinnes Thus you haue my iudgement of a sacrifice contynuall that may be taken away by Antichrist and yet is not your Popishe Masse The thrée yeres and halfe also may well be applyed to the times wherin the power of Rome hath taken away this sacrifice by cruell persecution so that very few or none in all the knowne worlde durst offer this sacrifice to God Now let the indifferent reader be iudge betwéene your iudgement mine in this matter of a continuall sacrifice that may be taken away by Antichrist But that Daniell ment there to prophecy that Antichrist shal take away the continuall sacrifice the text will not suffer me to thinke For he sayth thus A tempore oblationis iugis sacrificij The meaning of Daniels prophecie positae abominationis desolationis dies mille ducenti non aginta From the time of the taking away of the contynuall sacrifice and setting vp of the abhomination of desolation are a thousand two hundereth foure score and ten dayes Which is the time two times and halfe a time that he spake of before The continuall sacrifice of the temple was fully ended and taken away by Christes one oblation of hymselfe 2. Thess 2. and the abhomination of desolation is set vp in the Church of Christ the man of sinne boasting himselfe to be God as doth the Antichrist of Rome which setteth vp himselfe aboue all that is called God that is aboue all Princes and earthly Potentates The space therefore betwéene the ending of the ceremoniall sacrifices and Christes comming to iudgement may be a time two times and halfe a time That is a long time twise so long a time to the feruent desire that Gods elect haue to sée the ende and but halfe a tyme that is to say a verie short time in comparison of that euerlasting time wherein they shall raigne with Christ in glorie incomparable Words that remayne sealed This my iudgement I submit to the iudgement of the godly learned til that time be ended during which as the Angell tolde Daniell those wordes of his must remaine sealed Thus much haue I written to let the reader sée what scriptures you haue brought to prooue the oblation of Christes body in the Masse to be the sacrifice of the Church and newe testament Which as you say many haue assaulted and oppugned with such direct scriptures Doctours and good reasons that it is by them expugned and can not be by you propugned Not by tyrannicall power but by simple and plaine preaching of the Gospell these men haue preuayled in many places for a time And Truth the daughter of Time hath neuer suffered hir selfe to be altogither ouercome by Popishe tyranny WATSON Diuision 27 Heb. 9. 10. Some scriptures they abuse what they be ye shal heare They alledge saint Paule to the Hebrues Semel oblatus est ad multorum exhaurienda peccata Christ was once offered to take away the sinnes of many Vnica oblatione cōsumauit inaeternum sanctificatos With one oblation he hath perfited for euermore al that be sanctified These be the scriptures they alledge against the Masse and they say Christes oblation is perfite no man can offer Christ but himselfe which hee did but once and neuer but once as though we should say that Christ was crucified twise or often times To this obiection of theirs wee aunswere that Christ was neuer offred to the death for our redemption but once and yet otherwise was he offered many times both of himselfe and of his creatures Daniell 7. We reade in the prophet Daniell that Aungels offered him in the sight of his father Luc. 3. Bernard Ser. 3. de purificatione And also the blessed Virgin his mother offered him at hir purification of which offering saint Bernard sayth Ista oblatio fratres satis delicata videtur vbi tantum sistitur domino redimitur auibus illico reportatur Thys oblation brethren is very delicate where he is onely presented to our Lorde redeemed with birdes and by and by brought home againe And therefore we aunswere them that their argument is of no strength to confute one truth by another when both may be true as to reason Christ was but once offered vpon the crosse Ergo he was not offered in the sacrament And we tell them that they doe not consider how Christ is offred three wayes of himselfe and also three wayes of man First he offred himselfe vpon the crosse really and corporally as I say as sayth Oblatus est quia voluit Isay 50. This is manifest ynough And here their exclamations of ones ones hath very good place Secondly he offered himselfe figuratiuely in the paschall lambe For the scripture sayth the lambe was slaine from the beginning of the worlde Apo 13. and the fathers in the olde lawe in all their sacrifices did offer Christ not in substaunce but in figure and so Christ offering the paschall lambe at his supper offered him selfe in figure Thirdly Christ offreth himselfe in heauen really and so contynually as the same Chapiter which they bring against the Masse doth testifie Non in manifacta sancta Iesus introiuit exemplaria verorum Heb. 9. sed in ipsum coelum vt appareat nunc vultui Dei pro nobis Iesus entred not into a temple made with mans hand a figure of the truth but into heauen that he might appeare nowe to the countenaunce of God for vs. What is this appearing in the sight of God for vs but an offering of himselfe for vs to pacifie the anger of God with vs to represent his woundes and all that he suffered for vs that we might be reconciled to God by him This is the true and perpetuall oblation of Christ in comparison of this in heauen the bloudy oblation vpon the crosse is but an Image as S. Ambrose sayth Hic vmbra hic imago Ambrose offi lib. 1. Capit. 48. illic veritas vmbra in lege imago in Euangelio veritas in coelestibus antè agnus offerebatur vitulus nunc Christus offertur sed offertur quasi homo quasi recipiens passionem offert se ipse